Reddit reviews A History of Private Life, Volume II: Revelations of the Medieval World (History of Private Life (Paperback))

Well, in an era before mass-manufacturing of textiles, I imagine there really would be an awful lot of spinning and weaving and sewing that needed to be done just to maintain all the household's clothes, linens, and tapestries (remember that such things are important not only for warmth, but also for projecting wealth and power). How much of this might be done by the lady of the house or her servants was likely a question of the number of retainers she had available to her and the time period in question.

As to what else, according to A History of Private Life, Volume II: Revelations of the Medieval World, in feudal France:

> The lord's first assistant was his wife... She had charge of everything that pertained to women (including young children, who were considered part of the female domain). She supervised the storage of supplies and everything that came into the house. The wife of the lord of Arges, for example, oversaw the collection of taxes from the peasants...She also kept an eye on her domestic servants. When one maid became pregnant, the lady of the castle forced the putative father to marry the girl. Imperiously she punished and terrorized all the women in the house and forced them to obey her will. According to Jean de Marmoutier, the king of France wanted to marry off the orphaned daughter of a great vassal, but the girl refused. Unable to win her consent, he asked his wife to break the girl's will, and the queen obliged.

On the eve of the Renaissance, it describes a rather different scene. There are still household responsibilities, but these leave enough time to withdraw into private letters, reminiscences over precious mementos, or religious devotions, not to mention attending to their appearance.

But the noblewoman's first responsibility was producing as many offspring as possible. Why else send infants to wet-nurses than to make sure the mother can become pregnant again as soon as possible?

A History of Private Life 1
A History of Private Life 2
A History of Private Life 3
A History of Private Life 4
A History of Private Life 5

I started reading the first one before we moved overseas and I put them in storage.

All kinds of skin on these wights...

https://www.amazon.com/History-Private-Life-Revelations-Paperback/dp/0674400011

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